Top U.S. general arrives in Iraq as military campaign expands

November 15, 2014 8:24 AM

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer, General Martin Dempsey, arrived on Saturday in Baghdad on an unannounced visit to meet U.S. commanders preparing to expand American assistance to Iraqi and Kurdish forces battling Islamic State militants.

It was Dempsey’s first trip to Iraq since President Barack Obama, alarmed by Islamic State advances, ordered non-combatant American forces back into the country this summer, less than three years after withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. The United States began carrying out air strikes in August.